Remember to take care
by random-k
Summary: The planet has sent them back in time. But before they try to heal the world, perhaps they should take time to heal from the wounds of last time.


Remember to take care

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_I own nothing but my own Ideas_

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"I can understand, Cloud, that you feel you have left many deeds undone. That maybe, if you had acted a little quicker, or known how to do something, better and sooner, you wouldn't have failed. That we wouldn't have gone back in time, to build advantages we didn't have last time. But that is not why I'm here.

I spent my earliest years under the scrutiny of scientists. When I got out, I spent years getting over it, learning to be more than a specimen, learning to be a child. How to laugh, and play and smile, and make other people happy. How to make myself happy. How to balance my heritage with all of these new things I am learning. It had its pains, and bumps, but they are all an important part of being alive, just as the joy is.

And while many parts of our journey were happy times, there are things that happened on it, that I still need time to recover from. Being back in Hojo's lab. Learning what happened to Zack. Nibleheim. Dying. Just because time has reversed, does not mean I will forget the feeling of steel moving through my chest. And you didn't die, but doubt you have forgotten it yourself.

I appreciate your desire to save the planet. I agree with it. And we will save it. But we need time to heal first, time to reconnect with the world, and ourselves. Not to train ourselves into the ground, so we can go around and shake things up. It would be better to wait before acting on our knowledge.

We have time, to remember the little but important things, of what we are fighting for. You, and me, and Vincent. Yes, Vincent, don't you dare go back to the Nibelheim mansion, you need to learn some important things too! Before we get up again, before we go back into the fight, we need to heal.

Did you ever stop and just deal with the trauma and pain Hojo brought to you, Cloud? Did you take the time to mourn the loss of Nibelheim? Or Zack? I don't even feel that I mourned Zack the way he should have been, too much was going on, and it didn't feel right to take the time to deal with something so personal. He's not even dead anymore, but we will not relate the same way anymore, and I will miss that. I will miss the Zack that I knew, and I need time to process that properly.

Vincent, hiding in a coffin wrapped up in your grief is no way to move on. You are not allowed to do that again. Hojo traumatized you. He captured you, changed you, and left to go continue his sick experiments. You are not alone. You are not the only person who's life has been defined by it makes you feel better, you can be president of the support group. Or maybe treasurer. That way, you don't have to talk with everyone. We can host the support group at least once every two weeks.

We could try to do something about Lucrecia, now that we have time. I mean, I can't say I think much of her decision to have a child with Hojo for science, but she couldn't have known what would happen when she started. Or at least, I hope not. It would be a good idea to have a different scientist around to help us figure out how to save the planet. She also might have an idea of how to use Hojo's research, and might have some insight on how to counteract Geostigma if things get that bad.

Hopefully, we can prevent things from getting that bad, but it is always good to have backup. The universe is a living thing. It reacts, and never in a predictable or controled way. But thats getting ahead of everything, we have time to make our move.

Now you can go back to Nibleheim, Cloud, as staying here does mean you will run the risk of being thought of as one President Shinra's bastard children, but I would request that you both remain here. The Turks are watching me, but they would probably give me more space If I had a bodyguard. A bodyguard with a son close to my age, a son who I decided I liked and played with often. That would give us space, and allow us some time to train together, and allows me to keep an eye on you two to make sure you stay in good habits.

You don't have to do that all the time, I know you both have plans. At the very least, come to the support group meetings. And bring me if you need to go anywhere dangerous. I know that the turks are wacthing me, but I do not want you two to get killed without me there to watch your backs.

We might not have forever, but we have time to heal. So take it. Things are not urgent at the moment, so breathe. Cry. Take the time to process. Take the time to look at the world we have, the world we are fighting for. Don't get so caught up in the chaos that you forget why we are fighting.

Maybe we can go fix the church, as a first step. I miss my flowers, and the feeling of the earth beneath my feet. Its peaceful at the church. Maybe you can find peace there too."

* * *

_Cloud has a lot of time travel fics, which is understandable, as the Shinra drama is what fuels a lot of the plot in the series, particularly for the spinoff games. I see little with the others, which is a shame, as I think they could bring their own valuable skills to the table. _

_Aerith and Vincent also have some serious Shinra trama to recover from, and can now bond over surviving should have been fatal attacks. Arieth spent time in the labs as a child, saw her mother die, and still managed to turn out a functional person, and I feel a lot of that was being given time to heal, and a supportive second mother. She would know the importance of taking the time to feel like a person again, before getting back out._

_And after being sent back in time to fix things, I think they need to take time to recover that isn't being hospitalized in Mideel. So a health break is happening. _


End file.
